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Hossam al-Badry, coach of Egypt's popular Al-Ahly football club, blamed his team's defeat by the Tunisian Esperance on Ghanian referee Joseph Lamptey.

Al-Ahly lost 0-1 to Esperance in the CAF Champions League semi-final match played in Tunis on Sunday.

“I blame the CAF [African Football Confederation] for choosing a man that had never refereed semi-finals before,” al-Badry said at a press conference on Monday.

“I haven't seen such bad refereeing in ten years,” he added, in reference to Nigerian striker Michael Eneramo, who scored the winning goal with the use of his right arm in a clear violation of the rules of the game.

“I don’t rule out the possibility that the referee was bribed,” al-Badry said. “I have asked the CAF to investigate.”

Following the match, al-Badry verbally clashed with his Tunisian counterpart.

Players, too, blamed their defeat on the referee.

“We played well,” said Al-Ahly footballer Wael Gomaa. “It was the referee that defeated us.”